Who Are We?
The ball fund raising committee consists of 8 friends who have a vision to make a difference. We are:
- Tanja Tippett
- Nicky Pyle
- Shelley Hyne
- Colleen Byren
- Brian Pyle
- Michael Hyne
- Simon Tippett
- Craig Byren
Why Starfish?
In 2005, amid the horrendous reports of the conditions of young children who had lost both their parents to Aids, a small group of friends banded together to try and make a difference.
The task seemed mammoth and completely overwhelming, until we discovered Starfish. The founding ethos of Starfish is that, whilst the problem IS immense, one has to start somewhere, and helping just one child is better than helping none. The Starfish story goes as follows:
"An old man had a habit of early morning walks on the beach. One day, as he looked along the shore, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. As he came closer he saw that it was a young woman and she was not dancing but was reaching down to the sand, picking up starfish and very gently throwing them into the ocean.
"Young lady," he asked, "Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?"
"The sun is up, and the tide is going out, and if I do not throw them in they will die."
"But young lady, do you not realise that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it? You cannot possibly make a difference."
The young woman listened politely, paused and then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves, saying:
"It made a big difference to that one."
Adapted from the story "The Star Thrower"
by Loren Eiseley
We were particularly drawn to Starfish as they are committed to ensuring that funds raised get directly to the children who so desperately need help, and don't end up funding a large bureaucracy. Even though the charity has grown immensely since then, we still fundamentally believe this to be the case. We recommend that you visit the Starfish website and see for yourself some of the incredible work that they are doing.
The 2005 Starfish Dinner of Hope
Our inaugural Starfish Dinner of Hope was held on 30 September 2005, and was generously hosted by Meerendal Wine Farm in Durbanville.
Our initial plan was to host a Dinner of Hope for the six of us (Mike, Shelley, Nicky, Brian, Tanja and Simon) and a few friends, but this soon grew to the more ambitious project of hosting a formal evening in a smart venue, and raising funds through an auction of Art or other crafts. An ancillary objective became the supporting and showcasing of local artists through the auction process.
We were blessed with a perfectly crisp spring evening, and guests were greeted with champagne (thanks to Villiera Wines) and roaring outdoor logs fires. The inside of the Old Barn was exquisitely decorated, and was adorned with twelve paintings from a local Durbanville artist, Annie Dee, which would later provide the lots for the main auction.
David Higgs and his team at Meerendal then did an outstanding job providing guests with a culinary feast, perfectly matched with Meerendal's wines, and served with passion and flair. We owe a huge gratitude to them, having gone out of their way to ensure a perfect evening.
Anthony Farr, a founding member of the Starfish Foundation gave us a moving glimpse of the plight of Aids orphans, after which Andrew Koch, the MD of Claremart Auction Group, used his years of auctioneering experience to run a fabulous auction. His wily sales techniques also ensured that we received the maximum prices possible form the auctioned lots!
After the final "are we all done.....??", a local DJ took over from Andrew, the wines flowed, and the guests danced and partied until the early hours! By all accounts, the evening was a huge success.
A total sum of almost R50 000 was raised on the night, and paid over to the Starfish Foundation. This ended up being over 5% of the funds raised globally in 2005 from Dinners of Hope!
The 2008 Starfish Dinner of Hope
After a two year break while the Pyle's and Tippet's had their first children we decided to host another event in 2008. Colleen and Craig who attended the first ball joined the committee and the 8 of us began planning the event.
This year we have set ourselves a more ambitious target to raise at least R100 000 and have engaged with the StarFish Foundation on exactly how this money will be distributed to some of the many worthy projects.
We are looking forward to a fantastic evening spent with friends, good food, wine and dance.
See you there!
